On today’s Expert Series, Paul Taillon and Howard Coombs joined us to discuss Canada’s plan to expand its reserve forces, with goals to increase the primary reserve to 100,000 and the supplementary reserve to 300,000.
They discussed the key challenges, including inefficient recruiting systems, limited training capacity, and the need for better integration with regular forces. Other issues addressed were the supplementary reserve’s current role as a civil defence pool rather than a war-fighting force, historical context on the reserve’s role in national defence, and the importance of addressing these challenges to maintain Canada’s sovereignty and readiness for future threats. Given the urgent need to address these issues, what steps can Canada take to ensure a more effective and sustainable reserve force strategy in the face of an increasingly unstable global security environment?
Dr. Col. Paul de B. Taillon is the Vice-Chair of the PIF Selection Committee and has over 40 years of academic, intelligence and military experience. Dr. Howard Coombs is an Associate Professor of History at the Royal Military College of Canada and Associate Director Defence Engagement of the Queen’s Centre for International and Defence Policy, both in Kingston, Ontario. He is also a part-time Canadian Army reservist with the Canadian Defence Academy, also located in Kingston.
